CARACAS - President Nicolás Maduro announced plans on Monday to resort to food exports as the nation’s “new source of national wealth for foreign currency”, as a U.S. blockade in the South Caribbean halts Venezuelan oil sales.
Maduro stated that Venezuela will become “a major food exporting power” during a visit to an agricultural commune in the nation’s capital of Caracas, broadcast by the state-run television channel, Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
The Venezuelan president cited ongoing tensions with the United States and the U.S. seizure of two oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast in early December–a move Maduro claims was an “act of piracy”–accusing the United States of vying for his nation’s natural resources in gold and oil.
Venezuelan oil exports have historically made up about 80%-90% of the government’s total revenue since the regime of Hugo Chávez expanded state control over the nation’s oil industry and the state-run oil company, P.D.V.S.A in 2007.
This dependency on oil sales has made Venezuela extremely vulnerable in times of slower global demand. The United States accuses the Maduro regime of selling sanctioned oil products to U.S. adversaries in Iran, Cuba, and China.
In September, the Pentagon deployed a collection of military assets in the South Caribbean as part of the administration’s effort to reduce the flow of illicit narcotics into the United States.
However, speculation is swirling that suggests the administration in Washington and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leaning more aggressively towards a more concerted pressure campaign to remove Maduro from power in Caracas.
The U.S. military presence in the South Caribbean, routine strikes on suspected drug vessels in the region, and the seizure of multiple oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast have forced the government in Caracas to seek alternative methods to generating national wealth.
“We have to start producing pure, chemical-free food that does not make us sick, and 100% organic food because, in addition, the world is demanding organic food,” Maduro said.
“The whole world will thank us for it and they'll snatch it out of our hands, and it will be the new source of national wealth for foreign currency,” he said.
